An endangered Irrawaddy dolphin calf was found dead by a villager in Kratie province of Cambodia on Sunday, making it the seventh to die so far this year, according to the World Wildlife Fund for Nature.
WWF in a press release issued yesterday said the carcass weighed 10.5 kilogrammes and was found seven kilometres away from the Kampi deep pool in Kratie city.
A research team from the provincial fisheries administration cantonment and WWF was able to identify the dolphin from photographs and affirmed that this animal was one of the other newborn dolphins photographed a few weeks ago swimming among adult animals in the Kampi pool, it said.
WWF noted the carcass was entanglement in gill nets, a known primary threat to the survival of the Irrawaddy dolphins in the Mekong river.
It said the discovery prompted WWF staffers to report the incident to river guards and local police at the Kampi outpost.
WWF said staffers from the fisheries administration cantonment and WWF were able to promptly visit the site and collected the animal for an examination.
It said fishery laws must be enforced and strict monitoring must be conducted to crack down on illegal fishing on the Mekong river.
WWF noted so far this year, its research team was able to record 13 new baby dolphins, but seven dolphins had died.
It said its latest population survey shows 92 adult Irrawaddy dolphins inhabit a 190 kilometres stretch of the mainstream Mekong river between Kratie and Laos.
The strict enforcement of the fisheries law and for the ban of gillnet use be strictly reinforced must be implemented, WWF said. We urge all members of [the authorities] to vigorously monitor and crackdown on all illegal fishing practices along the Mekong river, particularly the use of gillnets in the Mekong dolphin protection and management zone.
2019 Virtus Media Pte., Ltd. (Khmer Times)